Can You Hear Me?
by Ikari-Tsukasa
Summary: An adventure comes to a terrible conclusion. How will the King react to the news that his Captain, and the only one he's ever loved, has died?


Disclaimer: I obviously don't own Blue Dragon but I do, however, own myself… I hope :/

Skeleton Role-Played betwixt myself and Kizune-Kitsune/IkariKizune (same person… obviously 0o) One could say it has some OOC-ness but… I hope not too much :/ Also, mild AU. A one-shot

Can You Hear Me?

So arduous, was this task at hand. This campaign against the Ancient that loved the sounds of pain and depression… however… once he was destroyed there was another evil; the thing that sat upon Nene's shoulder, incessantly repeating his words like some deranged parrot. By this time, things weren't looking so well. The heroes' bodies were bruised, battered and bleeding over the dark stone ground that they were standing upon and, quite frankly, Zola was looking the worst… even with Marumaro's constant healing of her during their fight against one another. Her breath was coming in sharp wheezes that most likely hinted at a fractured rib but still she continued to fight by Shu and his friends' sides… and when the final blow was struck, Destroy went down hard with a small shout that was filled with hatred, pain and disgust. It would be no joke to say that the battle between the two forces was great, as the situation between all of them was obviously much worse than it had been. In fact, it seemed almost miraculous that one could tell who was who and what they looked like… as well as the fact that they did, in fact, have all their limbs.

With great difficulty, the five heroes made the small walk towards the now activated telepad and transported to where the button that would more or less fix the world awaited. After Shu pressed it, Zola offered a smile of accomplishment before crashing to the floor in a bloody heap. After the other four expressed their various ways of shock, Shu and Jiro carefully picked the body up and carried her ever so gently to the Mechat, their muscles straining lightly against the weight. After setting the woman down with Kluke sitting beside her to offer some form of barricade, Shu went to the controls and lifted off with an anxious Jiro clutching onto his shoulder and a just as shaken Marumaro pacing around the cabin. "Maro _knew_ she wasn't one of the bad guys! Maro _knew_ everything was going to be okay… but nobody listened! And now look! Lady Zola… Lady Zola is…." He couldn't finish his self-mumblings, and instead proceeded to pace with even more fervor. Glancing back at the Devee, Shu himself was beginning to feel a nagging doubt gnaw upon his storage of 'Never Give Up!'-ism and courage. The King of Jibral Castle Town had trusted them and what did they end up going and doing? Letting something like _this_ happen! Feeling his heart fluttering rapidly, the young sixteen year old boy touched down just outside the city and, as the Mechat dropped to the ground so did everyone's hopes. Zola was yet to awaken.

Carrying the woman through the city, they were met with stares and awe inspiring silence. Those that seemed to be always talking, always walking, always keeping their attentions to their own selfish worlds somehow managed to watch the mournful procession towards the castle. The soldiers and Blademasters that gathered around the four heroes let them pass quickly after offering a smart, honoring salute with their faces drawn into a mask void of all emotion. Traversing two stories of ornate stairs and hallways, they finally arrived in front of the throne room. Taking in deep breaths, the group opened the large double doors. The King himself was sitting on his throne with his eyes closed and a soft frown upon his lips as he prayed to any and every god and deity that he had ever heard of. He was praying for the protection of Zola… and perhaps Shu and the others… however when he himself heard the large doors opening and when his eyes flew open and his head shot up it took a mere matter of seconds to survey the scene playing out before him. The scene of two Shadow Wielder's carrying his Captain towards him caused him to stand, his eyes wide in shock and fear. "No…." He ran to the three and took Zola's body from the arms of the others. "Zola." He cried, his voice sounding a bit hoarse "Zola!"

Marumaro and Kluke stood behind Jiro and Shu, the Devee looking as if he was about to cry and the young female following suit…. Knowing that it was usually around this time condolences were offered, Jiro was about to speak out… however he was beaten to the gun by none other than Shu. Stepping a bit closer and looking the man in the eye, Shu needed to tell him what happened. He had a right to know "King Jibral, Zola she… she fought very bravely. We uh… we think you should know something, though. This whole time she's been working for Nene and at his command she came at us. Marumaro, well, he tried to stop us but we wouldn't listen and… but… but she wouldn't' fight back! But for some reason I just… couldn't figure it out! I was just so… eeeaaggaahh! But even after all that, she finally brought it to light that… if she was going to betray anybody it'd be him, Nene, and she went and killed him herself… and then threw out his light sphere! But Deathroy got a hold of it and he transformed into some sort of weird… thing." He took a few deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself down. It didn't help much. "We managed to kill it but even then… even after we tried so hard and got so far… the final battle proved to be too much." He wiped his eyes on his arms, almost violently. "I didn't mean for this to happen! I'm sorry!"

Listening to him then, the King glanced down at the woman he held in his arms. From what he could gather, they had attacked her… but… only because she had been working for Nene. However, she _didn't_ attack _them_ because _she_ betrayed _Nene_. A… triple agent? It was all so confusing! He could feel his head pounding lightly as the gears in his mind tried to fit it into that one Big Picture. He frowned lightly before sighing and shaking his head, his eyes unreadable. "Shu… all of you… you acted according to the situation." His words made some of them feel a bit better, but it was then that Marumaro walked forward, utterly upset with his small Devee chest rising and falling with great, rapid force. "Is… is Lazy Zola dead?" Almost grateful that it was the humanoid who was speaking next, Shu went back to stand next to Kluke and tried to comfort and reassure her. "Maro won't believe that she's dead! But… Lady Zola felt… so cold…. Can't King Jibral do anything to fix her?!" Listening to his pleas and denials, Jibral held his Captain closer to him. He needed to confirm her status for himself. After kneeling down and placing her on the ground, he positioned an ear betwixt her breasts and he shut his eyes in deep concentration as the other four watched with out-of-place curiosity. Was there… could there possibly be… yes! It was there! Opening his eyes, he couldn't help but flash an excited smile. "Her heart is beating!"

The Devee cheered loudly as the three teens ran over to inspect her with intense scrutinization, only to be shooed away by the king. "Maro knew she couldn't be dead!" His shouts seemed to fill the throne room, as they did the first time they entered the large room. Jiro, placing a hand upon his chin, thought about the situation a bit and after glancing at Kluke as if sharing her thoughts, he nodded. "Yes, however, she is most likely in a very critical state. It would most probably be a bad idea to move her too much for now. Your Majesty, would it be incredibly intrusive to ask you to take care of her? As selfish as this may sound, with the knowledge that she lives, we need to get back to Talta Village to check on our families." The benevolent king offered a soft, understanding smile. "Of course it's no problem. I'm sure that you all have people whom are worrying about you. Don't worry. Zola will be… fine here." Carefully, the man got to his feet and began to carry her to the castle infirmary. "Sir!" The voice of one of his Blademasters spoke up as the speaker approached quickly. "I can carry her for you, sir." The glare that he soon received was something that dripped of venom… something that nobody was used to seeing. Taken aback, he quickly shook his head. "Erm… forget I said… anything." Taking two cautionary steps, the Blademaster quickly ran in the direction of the infirmary to get everything ready for them.

And as the young King marched slowly on, being incredibly gentle with the mercenary in his arms, the four remaining heroes watched for a few moments before soon leaving and hoping for the best. As for Zola, in her current state of consciousness she could indeed hear what was going on… more or less. Vaguely, she could make out Jibral's voice… smell his scent… feel his warmth… and a small smile fluttered across her face. At that moment, Jibral had once more glanced at her and worried about her general well-being… but when he saw her smile that was all he needed to be comforted. Connecting his forehead against hers, he closed his eyes for a short moment and offered a small prayer of thanks to whichever deity answered his earlier ones.

Zola was dreaming now…. It was such a wonderful dream…. A dream where she didn't have to worry about Nene, didn't have to worry about the Blademasters… didn't have to worry about love, lust, nor betrayal. She was just… there. Floating. Enjoying life in pictures, slide shows, melodies… and of course the image and scent of the man she was slowly realizing wouldn't (no…couldn't) get out of her mind. But… somehow… deep down, she knew that she didn't mind that there was something about him that caused her heart to flutter and words to become stuck in her throat. His image and scent took over her, and it was then that the woman achieved inner peace… however Jibral could only feel her muscles relax ever so slightly and her smile soften. And as he watched and felt this happen within his arms, a fleeting thought swam through his mind. Did she perhaps know that she was in his arms? Was it possible she had an inkling of an idea in her unconcious mind? The relaxing sensation that he felt flow through her certainly said something of the sort. However… the King had a change of plans. Changing his course, he entered her room and set her down upon the bed. He was, hopefully, more than capable of taking care of one person.

When she was laid upon the bed, the world seemed to suddenly cease and the warmth and scents that were surrounding her seemed to vanish. However, in the physical realm the only thing she did was quietly cry out in pain as her bruised and battered body attempted to get as comfortable as possible upon her bed. As she winced, Jibral frowned lightly and placed a hand upon her forehead. "Don't worry… everything will be alright shortly." As if in response to his words, Zola's mouth moved in pantomime and her eyes fluttered underneath her closed lids…. It seemed like everything was going well enough and recovery would be swift… until the woman began coughing hard enough to cause her body to shake violently and a small amount of blood to dribble out the side of her mouth. The coughing continued but they seemed to come forth with less and less force as her body's shaking worsened. Noticing this, the King got to work and grabbed his pestle. Quickly, he began to mix some of the more powerful herbs together into some sort of anti-septic salve. As he checked her body and found the wounds that covered her body, he carefully applied the salve and, with a small hiss of gas the wounds were cleansed and Zola began to heal. But… the blood… that could be a problem from the result of a fractured rib. However, seeing how she was now, he wouldn't be able to quite check quite as easily. "Forgive me…."

As the words came forth from his lips, his eyes shut softly and his strong hands destroyed her shirt. No… he was going to be professional about this… even if it killed him. Finding the rib, Jibral managed to carefully pop it back into its rightful spot and after that, he improvised a splint of sorts to keep it from moving. For Zola, her dream was growing dark… silent. Void of all light and any of the senses she had originally possessed, the woman could feel her will to carry on slowly diminish… and it was then she noticed a small light straight ahead. Curious, she hesitantly moved towards it, needing to know what it was, needing to know what exactly was causing that light to come out of supposedly nowhere. Suddenly, the light seemed to get a bit hazy and the mercenary narrowed her eyes in mild irritation and confusion… however it didn't take too long until she made up her mind to go for it and try harder to reach the light at the end of… wherever the hell she was.

…And looking down at her, Jibral knew that was all he could do. There was nothing more he could have done but the thoughts of whether or not it was a wise decision to bring her here instead of into the medical ward began to continuously intrude his thoughts. Had he done the right thing? There was only one way of finding out… and that was to wait…to watch… to listen. He leaned over carefully and placed a delicate hand upon her cheek. "Zola…? I… I don't know if… _can_ you hear me?" He cleared his throat, feeling a little ridiculous but knowing this was something he had to do. "I want you to pull through this…" he began to tear up, and their threats were heard quite well, "you're too important to me to lose…."

The light was getting closer now…. All Zola would have to do was reach a hand out and grasp it… but something stopped her. A sound lightly hit her ears. Voices? No… not quite. One… just one…. His. But the quality was strange, almost as if he were speaking to her underwater. Straining her ears now, the woman could just barely make out what he was saying… and what she heard caused her heart to pound violently. Opening her mouth, she willed her body to speak. A cold slimy liquid seemed to slide into her throat and choked the words out of her throat but instead of succumbing she merely tried harder until; "Y...Your Ma-Majesty…?" Her voice was strangled lightly… but it came out clear enough to the man they were directed at… and his eyes opened as the tears fell. She was… speaking to him. "Zola! Is it really you? Can you really hear me? I'm here… I'm here…. Hang on!"

Zola's brilliant turquoise eyes opened unseeing, and her mouth opened lightly only to close once more. A small tear found its way to her cheek and it slid down into her mouth causing her to wince. "Do…n't…" Beginning to wheeze, it was more than apparent that it was difficult to speak. "…cry…." The man shook his head before wiping his eyes without doing much good. "I'm not crying because I'm sad…. I'm crying because I'm overjoyed." After blinking those eyes of hers a few more times, the sparkle of life slowly became brighter and stronger. "You… you're overjoyed?" Jibral smiled softly as his finger wiped away one of his own tears off of her face. "Of course I am…. Incredibly so because you're alive. I… was afraid I would lose you…."

Ever so slowly, she became more and more aware of her surroundings. His warm tears trailing the sides of her face… his warmer hand caressing her cheek…. However, she remembered something she needed to do. "Nene… has been defeated. I… am no longer in need of your family's heirloom." Ever so carefully, the woman took off the ring that had adorned her finger… and ever so slowly after grabbing the hand that was placed upon her cheek she slid the ring upon his own finger… his pinkie finger. "It's yours again." Jibral was confused. She... gave the ring back? The ring he gave her for protection? "But… I gave it to you. And even if Nene has been defeated, as long as you fight for me you'll be in harm's way. I can't be there every time you're in danger, so if I can't protect you, please… let my ring." He placed it back into her hand. "I can't take it. It's yours now."

Frowning lightly, the woman shook her head before attempting to slide it back onto his pinkie finger, the way she had slid it upon her own the last night they were together. Wait… it suddenly hit what finger she had slid the ring onto. In his kingdom, a ring adorning that finger signified marriage. "Zola... are you… are you sure?"

Very lightly, the Captain of Jibral's Blademasters smiled. Ever so slightly the woman who had slowly found herself falling for the man she had served (with mixed intentions, of course) nodded. "Yes... Yes, I am. I have never been surer of something in my entire life."And he had never been gladder in the entirety of his life. However, there was a very important subject that needed to be talked about. "Zola... Shu told me about your... alliances... with Nene."

Frowning lightly, Zola looked away from Jibral, unable to face him. "Even until the very end, I was after power. However, I learned something while I was with Shu and the others." She stopped suddenly, erupting into a fit of violent coughs. When it was over, she continued. "The power of the heart… is an amazing thing...."

As she coughed, Jibral placed a hand on her shoulder. When she finished speaking, he began. "Indeed it is. And... what exactly is your heart telling you?"

She once again looked deep into his sapphire eyes, her hand in his. "Well Your Majesty, it's saying 'in this kingdom… all I need to do to show you my true feelings… is to put into actions what you put into words the night you gave it to me.'" He froze a bit, taking it in as best he could. "Are... you saying that you... want to...?" Sure, she had already told him the answer, but… this was a big step. Perhaps she had misunderstood him the last time.

However, instead of speaking her answer, Zola struggled to sit up and wrapped her arms around the King, His Majesty, and with a smile the distance between their lips closed... and for once, Zola had found the answer she was looking for all along. She had finally found where she belonged, and what it really was her heart yearned for.


End file.
